CULTIVATING HOPE

The Bester community in Hagerstown, Maryland, can be a challenging place for families to raise children safely, with a high poverty rate, health challenges and a high rate of children removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.

Those challenges haven’t gone unnoticed, and in 2013 San Mar took the lead to reach out to key partners to form alliances to build a Community of Hope, a place where people share a vision of safety and success for every child who lives there. It’s a place where public and private organizations, nonprofits, philanthropies, government, businesses and communities collaborate closely to help achieve that vision. As a result, children are safer, families are stronger and communities are more supportive places.